160GB Seagate Momentus 7200.4 - BSY - No Access

[gtd4242]

Had a Momentus drive come in with a BSY issue...just like the 7200.11. The problem is, I have absolutely no access to the drive via Terminal. I do have the baud rate set correctly, and have verified my terminal connection with other functional 7200.4 drives. There is no output at all in Terminal and the heads do not sound like they are moving. You just hear the drive spin up and that's it. No clicking, no weird noises, no normal noises and no output in Terminal. I even blocked the connection between the PCB and the heads just to see if that would make a difference, and still nothing. Anybody else run into similar issues with these? Any suggestions? Thanks for your time.

[SquaL]

Hi, what tools are you using? I don't have time now maybe later.

[pcimage]

Had a Momentus drive come in with a BSY issue...just like the 7200.11. The problem is, I have absolutely no access to the drive via Terminal. I do have the baud rate set correctly, and have verified my terminal connection with other functional 7200.4 drives. There is no output at all in Terminal and the heads do not sound like they are moving. You just hear the drive spin up and that's it. No clicking, no weird noises, no normal noises and no output in Terminal. I even blocked the connection between the PCB and the heads just to see if that would make a difference, and still nothing. Anybody else run into similar issues with these? Any suggestions? Thanks for your time.

You have PM

[gtd4242]

Hi, what tools are you using? I don't have time now maybe later.

Hi. Nothing really. For Seagate drives I've always just used the com program on our systems to gain terminal access. That's all I've ever used for 7200.10 .11 and .12 issues along with other Momentus issues as well.

[gtd4242]

Got it figured out. Just a note for others if you ever run into issues like this. PCIMAGE mentioned something that made a light bulb go off, and reminded me of something very important. A drive can sound normal, not click or do anything else, and you still won't have access to it. I've had cases in the past, especially with Fujitsu drives, where if the spindle does not hit the right RPM the drive just won't do anything at all. The heads won't move. It won't calibrate. Nothing. That's what the problem was with this one. The drive sounded perfectly fine. I went ahead and tried a different PCB just to see if I had any different reaction at all. You could tell a slight (very slight) difference in the sound of the motor, and then I got some output in Terminal. Went ahead and swapped the ROM and the drive is imaging as I type this.

Thanks to all who responded.

[SquaL]

Good job .

[bcometa]

Nice one! And thanks for posting your solution for everyone's future reference!

[BGman]

I didn't get it. Faulty ROM or faulty PCB was the problem?

[northwind]

It must have been faulty PCB (that 'd have been my guess too).
If ROM is faulty, they usually don't spin up.

[gtd4242]

I didn't get it. Faulty ROM or faulty PCB was the problem?

It was a faulty PCB. I've had Momentus drives come in with BSY errors like the 7200.11 drives, but I've never had an issue where there was no output in terminal. I don't like just randomly swapping out parts, and the issue was so unusual to me that I just wanted to post here first, if by chance someone else had seen the same issue in the past.

Pcimage had asked if the motor was making any erratic sounds, but it wasn't...it was smooth as glass. And that reminded me of the problems I've had on a few other drives that didn't spin up to the proper RPM. As soon as I heard the difference in the tone of the motor with the new PCB, I knew that was it, so I swapped the ROM over to the new PCB. It could have been any number of things with the PCB, but I'm fairly certain that the drive just wasn't getting fully up to speed, so it really never "woke up".

[BGman]

It must have been faulty PCB (that 'd have been my guess too).
If ROM is faulty, they usually don't spin up.

I've got several Barracuda 7200.12 with faulty ROM. They do spin up, stay BUSY and don't react to terminal commands.
Wandering what can be done in such a case?

[northwind]

How do you know the ROM is faulty?

Try this: On power up instantly hit CTRL^Z several times, and see if you get terminal access.

[Nick_CT]

I've got several Barracuda 7200.12 with faulty ROM. They do spin up, stay BUSY and don't react to terminal commands.
Wandering what can be done in such a case?

I recently had a Momentus with those symptoms. Original PCB was dead. ROM was moved to donor PCB. Drive spun up but stayed BSY. Obviously no response to terminal commands. Shorting read channel had no effect. Headswap to rule out mechanics was done to no avail. ACE deemed it as corrupt ROM with no solution.

[BGman]

How do you know the ROM is faulty?

Try this: On power up instantly hit CTRL^Z several times, and see if you get terminal access.

Very simple - just swaped the ROM chips of known good PCB and that one.

[BlackST]

I would try jumpstarting the drive regardless of ROM and see if the drive can access LBA area.
P.s. Some configurations are pesky.

[gtd4242]

Are there Momentus drives that have to be handled in a similar manner as the HP24 and some of the 7200.12 drives when gaining access to terminal?

[TaskManager]

I was also told the same , If original rom of 7200.12 /12 is dead then recovery is not possible.
However some gurus have managed to recover data.

[BlackST]

I was also told the same , If original rom of 7200.12 /12 is dead then recovery is not possible.
However some gurus have managed to recover data.

You see? Then IT IS POSSIBLE !

[TaskManager]

Little Correction : -- For BlackST it may be possible

[BGman]

Little Correction : -- For BlackST it may be possible

Little, Little Correction: -- For BlackST everything is possible